Why I work on open source

I think the world is better off with free software. I don’t have anything against closed source or non-free software, I just think typical development processes for free software produce better products in the long run. They produce something that meets the needs of users better, with less fluff.

And I guess I feel like I can have a positive impact on open source software. Working on Pidgin is like my way of giving back to the authors of all the other free software that I use.

And I take a lot of pride in the code that I write. It is a reflection of who I am. If I write something that’s buggy then it makes me look bad. So you don’t need to try to talk me into fixing something that I wrote, because I care regardless. I care a lot more than you do, believe me. And it pains me when I don’t have time to fix my bugs.